


Charcoal and Paper

by wilddragonflying



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bull is a good teacher, Gen, Illiteracy, Lavellan learns to read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 18:47:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4030645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavellan wants his independence, but it's hard enough getting the rest of Thedas to accept a Dalish elf as Inquisitor-- how could they accept one who can't read?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charcoal and Paper

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Sav, because Teacher!Bull is love.

The tavern was bustling, but Ghywin wasn’t there for drinks; he was there to eavesdrop.

Part of him hated it, that he didn’t feel confident enough to just ask for what he wanted, but really, what would happen if it got out that the Inquisitor-- who was already barely accepted as a Dalish elf-- was also illiterate in the written language of the rest of Thedas?

So he was reduced to this-- to eavesdropping.

It had come out that Cole was illiterate in all languages, and so Bull and Varric had taken it upon themselves to teach him; they traded days, and today’s was Bull’s, which meant that the lessons took place in the corner of the tavern instead of by the fireplace in Skyhold’s main hall.

Ghywin chose a seat close enough that he could hear Bull’s instructions, but far enough away that it wasn’t completely obvious that he was eavesdropping.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his luck had run out, and that he was just close enough for Cole to hear.

_“I want to join; I want to read. I hate being dependent on everyone.”_

“Cole?” Bull asked, confused.

_“How hard can it be, if the shem can learn it; it was not hard to learn to speak, surely it can’t be hard to read.”_

Ghywin caught the clearing of confusion on Bull’s expression, and hastily threw back his drink, paying the bartender and hastily leaving the tavern, nodding absently to those who called after him. Bull caught up to him on the steps to the battlements, reaching out with one hand. “Boss, wait--”

“What, Bull?” Ghywin snapped, turning to glare at the Qunari. “What do you want?”

“Was Cole right? You want to learn to read?” Dammit, most of the time Ghywin appreciated Bull’s straightforward manner, but sometimes the man had no tact.

“Why don’t you say that a bit louder, I don’t think Josephine heard you in the office,” the elf muttered. When Bull just continued to look at him patiently, Ghywin sighed. “Yes, he was. I can read and write elvhen, but I can’t read any of the shem language, though I can speak it.”

“Do you want to join us?” Bull offered-- like doing so wouldn’t make Ghywin the laughing stock of the Inquisition. Still, the offer was tempting-- too tempting to resist.

“Yes,” Ghywin admitted grudgingly.

“Then join us,” Bull said simply. “You know where we practice.” With that, the Qunari turned and made his way back down the stairs, leaving Ghywin standing, uncertain, behind him.

************

Ghywin didn’t take Bull up on his offer for several days, but eventually he found himself trailing after Cole as the spirit made his way over to Bull’s corner. They got stares-- but Cole always got stares. Still, Ghywin couldn’t help but feel that they were staring at him too, this time. He tried not to let it get to him, but it was hard.

“Happy to see you, Boss,” Bull said with a grin, gesturing to the empty chairs next to him. “We’re going to review today, so you picked a good one.” Ghywin took the offered chair, sitting nervously. Cole sat next to him, leaning slightly against Ghywin, and the Inquisitor took the proffered comfort happily; he’d always liked Cole, ever since the spirit helped him at Therinfal Redoubt. “Now,” Bull said, handing Cole and Ghywin both a sheaf of papers and a stick of charcoal, “let’s start with the alphabet-- just run through it, in order. Cole?”

Cole focused on his paper, drawing the first character with an almost exaggerated carefulness; Ghywin, when Bull told him to, attempted to copy the same character. His came out lopsided, but legible. Ghywin was rather proud of it. “That’s an a,” Cole said, voice quiet.

“A,” Ghywin repeated, tracing over the letter. 

“Now let’s do b,” Bull said, tracing out one of his own.

************

Honestly, Ghywin wouldn’t have thought that Bull would be such a good teacher for something that didn’t involve decapitating people. They made it through the alphabet relatively quickly, then moved on to simple words, learning how the letters sounded on their own and in combination with others. Slowly but surely, Ghywin learned to read-- he kept pace with Cole, the spirit outpacing him occasionally, but he didn’t mind. He was learning to read, he was finally going to be independent in the world of the shem.

It was a slow process, but eventually Ghywin was able to start really reading the reports that Leliana, Cullen, and Josephine handed to him at each war council meeting, and that by itself was reward enough. Bull was proud of him, Ghywin could tell, and that made Lavellan feel even better about his progress.

But it was nothing compared to the look of pride Bull gave him the first time Ghywin managed to read through a full chapter of one of Varric’s novels without stuttering more than a few times.


End file.
